Media management system supporting a plurality of mobile devices

ABSTRACT

An interactive media management server that facilitates management of interactive media and delivery of such interactive media. It comprises a first interface to an interactive media distribution server communicatively coupled to a plurality of mobile devices, and a second interface to a service provider system or a content provider system. It comprises a manager module for managing creation, distribution and tracking of a plurality of interactive media. The manager module, via the second interface, manages the delivery of the plurality of interactive media from the service provider system or the content provider system, and the communication of user responses to the plurality of interactive media to the corresponding service provider system or content provider system.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/848,134, filed Sep. 8, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 13/908,447, filed Jun. 3, 2013, now issued as U.S.Pat. No. 9,158,437, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/354,811, filed Jan. 20, 2012, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,478,250,which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/888,100,filed Jul. 30, 2007, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,131,270, which claimsthe benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.60/860,700, filed Nov. 22, 2006. Each of the aforementioned applicationsand patents are hereby incorporated by reference herein in theirentirety.

This patent application makes reference to U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/977,764 entitled “MEDIA DISTRIBUTION SERVER THAT PRESENTSINTERACTIVE MEDIA TO A MOBILE DEVICE,” filed on Oct. 25, 2007. Thecomplete subject matter of the above-referenced United States patentapplication is hereby incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to management of media; and,more particularly, to management of interactive media that isdistributed to mobile devices.

2. Related Art

Cell (mobile) phones are widely used as mobile devices to communicateanywhere in the world. Some of them are very simple devices capable ofvoice communication alone. Many other today's mobile devices are usedfor multiple purposes, other than voice communication, in any convenientlocation. They keep record of appointments and schedules, storeaddresses, present calendars, surf Internet, play games among many otherpurposes. They are capable of playing music and other audio clips, andalso play video clips and movies. They can be networked with externaldevices such as other mobile phones, laptops and personal computers andmodems via infrared, Bluetooth and wifi interfaces. This enormouslyincreases their functionality when compared to just few years ago.

Very few mobile devices are capable of displaying interactive media.Very few servers are equipped with the technologies and tools needed todistribute interactive media and adequately support userinteractions—they are more likely to just support download by user ofstreaming content, such as a video from YouTube or a song from iTunesserver. Users are therefore forced to passively watch video clipsdelivered from YouTube service or passively listen to songs downloadedfrom servers such as iTunes servers and others of that kind.

Today's mobile devices have extensive processing ability and capableaccomplishing many tasks that were usually meant for personal computeralone. However, battery life is always a concern, with batteries needingto be charged every couple of days. Some modern mobile devices have widescreens with alpha numeric keyboards and many soft (programmable) keys.These devices are programmable and have ability to download programssuch as XML (eXtensible Markup Language) files and run them on mobiledevices. These programs accomplish many tasks such as managing dailytasks, assisting marketing, keeping data and files stored, managingdatabases etc. However, today the range of these programs are verylimited and they accomplish far less tasks than there is demand amongpeople.

The iTunes service from Apple Corp. provides a server based musicdistribution service. However, it does not distribute interactive media,or other content created by/for enterprises, content providers, etc. TheYouTube service provided by Google Inc. makes it possible for users tupload videos taped by them, and other users to download it or view iton the web. However, it does not provide interactive media, and it doesnot provide surveys based on interactive media, and in addition, it doesnot provide means to manage interactive media.

Microsoft Content Management Server facilitates storing and distributingcontent, but it does not seem to support management of interactivemedia, the management of the distribution of interactive media,gathering user responses for those interactive media, sending the userresponses to content and service providers, providing report generationfacilities for user responses collected, etc.

Thus there is a need in the market for a management server for managinginteractive media, the distribution of interactive media. There is aneed for a management server one that not only supports distributinginteractive media by one or more servers, but also facilitates gatheringuser responses for those interactive media, sending the user responsesto content and service providers, providing report generation facilitiesfor user responses collected, etc. There is need for a management serverfor interactive media that helps manage the life-cycle of interactivemedia, and subscription to services that provide interactive media, andbilling associated with distributing interactive media—all the featuresprovided by the present invention.

These and other limitations and deficiencies associated with the relatedart may be more fully appreciated by those skilled in the art aftercomparing such related art with various aspects of the present inventionas set forth herein with reference to the figures.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to apparatus and methods of operationthat are further described in the following Brief Description of theDrawings, the Detailed Description of the Invention, and the claims.Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description of the invention madewith reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an interactive mediamanagement server that not only supports distribution of interactivemedia by one or more servers, but also facilitates gathering userresponses for those interactive media, sending the user responses tocontent and service providers, providing report generation facilitiesfor user responses collected, etc.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart that describes an exemplary operation of aninteractive media management server, as it manages the acquisition,generation and collecting of interactive media, the distribution ofinteractive media, managing the life-cycle of interactive media, etc.

FIG. 3 is a perspective block diagram of a mobile device that comprisesa mobile client that is capable of displaying, and letting a userinteract with, an interactive media.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an interactive mediamanagement server 107 that not only supports distribution of interactivemedia by one or more servers, but also facilitates gathering userresponses for those interactive media, sending the user responses tocontent and service providers, providing report generation facilitiesfor user responses collected, etc. The interactive media managementserver 107 for interactive media that helps manage the life-cycle ofinteractive media, and subscription to services that provide interactivemedia, and billing associated with distributing interactive media

The interactive media management server 107 comprises a first interface115 to an interactive media distribution server 109 communicativelycoupled to a plurality of mobile devices 111, 113, and a secondinterface 117 to a service provider system 121 or a content providersystem 123. It comprises a manager module 125 for managing creation,distribution and tracking of a plurality of interactive media. Themanager module 125, via the second interface 117, manages the deliveryof the plurality of interactive media from the service provider system121 or the content provider system 123, and the communication of userresponses to the plurality of interactive media to the correspondingservice provider system 121 or content provider system 123.

The manager module 125 selectively facilitates storage, status change toactive or inactive, updates, removal, replacement, ranking, rating,comments, feedback and tracking of usage for each of the plurality ofinteractive media via the first interface 115. It also manages thedistribution of interactive media and the life-cycle of the interactivemedia. A rating and ranking module 131 in the interactive mediamanagement server 107 is configured at least to generate ratings andrankings for the plurality of interactive media based at least on theuser inputs, and an automatic categorization module 133 categorizesinteractive media as it is received from the service provider system121, content provider system 123 or from one or more of the plurality ofmobile devices 111, 113 communicatively coupled to the interactive mediadistribution server 109.

The interactive media management server 107 also comprises a searchinterface 141 that is used for retrieval of at least one of theplurality of interactive media and a retrieval manager 143 thatcoordinates providing a sample portion of at least one of the pluralityof interactive media before selectively providing the entire version ofthe at least one of the plurality of interactive media, as necessary.

The manager module 125 manages the delivery of samples of, or referencesto, the plurality of interactive media, to the plurality of mobiledevices 111, 113 based at least on recent retrievals by users of theplurality of mobile devices 111, 113. The manager module 125automatically generates a report, and presents it to one or morerecipients as required, wherein the report comprises recent user inputsreceived from users of the plurality of mobile devices 111, 113. Recentuser inputs received are those received during a period of a day, aweek, a month or a set duration specified.

The manager module 125 identifies an appropriate advertisement for eachof the plurality of mobile devices 111, 113 based at least on previousadvertisements presented and previous retrievals of interactive mediafrom the corresponding one of the plurality of mobile devices 111, 113.

The interactive media management server 107 regularly communicatesretrieval and user input data to the service provider system 121 orcontent provider system 123, wherein such communication is in live modeif necessary and in batched mode by default.

The interactive media management server 107 also comprises a website 147for creation of interactive media by a plurality of interactive mediaproviders, a control manager 149, a target profile manager 151, astorage manager 153 and a reporting manager 155. The website 147 alsoprovides a report generation facility for retrieval of user inputsprovided by users to specific ones of the plurality of interactive mediain an XML format, CSV format, PDF format, HTML or text format.

The control manager 149 assigns and manages a start date and an end dateto each of the plurality of interactive media, as necessary. The targetprofile manager 151 determines a target user profile for at least one ofthe plurality of interactive media and facilitates distribution of theat least one of the plurality of interactive media based on the targetuser profile. The storage manager 153 creates, in an automated fashion,a database and associated tables for collecting responses to individualinteractive media, as necessary. It also provides references to uploadedaudio, photo and video data provided by users as part of their userinputs to specific ones of the plurality of interactive media, whereinsuch references are used for communicating collected responses toindividual interactive media to external servers. The reporting manager155 presents or forwards, in an automated fashion, a report createddaily, weekly, and monthly, comprising usage, ranking, rating, comments,feedback and other related information, for each of the plurality ofinteractive media.

In one embodiment, the interactive media management server 107 alsocomprises a sample generator module that generates a sample version ofone of the plurality of interactive media. In general, a sample is asubset of a complete original version of the interactive media. Forexample, a sample of an interactive movie/video that is 1 hour long canbe an interactive trailer that is 2 minutes long. In addition, themanager module 125, by default, facilitates the delivery of the sampleversion of the one of the plurality of interactive media. It also, whenrequested, provides the original version of the one of the plurality ofinteractive media. In a related embodiment, the interactive mediamanagement server 107 has a media distribution server 109 that isintegrated into the interactive media management server 107, and theinteractive media management server 107 is also capable of distributingthe plurality of interactive media to the plurality of mobile devices111, 113 and receives user inputs from the plurality of mobile devices111, 113 and processes them.

In a different embodiment, the interactive media management server 107also comprises a edge caching interface 161 that makes it possible toconfigure an external edge caching cache 163 for subsets of componentsof each of the plurality of interactive media based on their usage and alocale associated with each of the plurality of mobile devices 111, 113.The edge caching interface 161 selectively makes a copy of a specificinteractive media at a preset interval and communicates this copy to theexternal edge caching cache 163 that is located in a close geographicalproximity to a significant number of the plurality of mobile devices111, 113.

In one embodiment, the interactive media management server 107 alsocomprises the interactive media distribution server 109, and providesall the features of the interactive media distribution server 109. Thusis combines management of interactive media with distribution ofinteractive media and collecting user responses for the interactivemedia (and management of such user responses).

FIG. 2 is a flow chart that describes an exemplary operation of aninteractive media management server 107, as it manages the acquisition,generation and collecting of interactive media, the distribution ofinteractive media, the life-cycle of interactive media, etc. At a startblock 205, the operation starts when the interactive media managementserver 107 receives an interactive media from a content provider systemor a service provider system. It optionally arranges, by using aconfiguring module, the received interactive media into an initialsample portion and a rest of the interactive media portion. It assignsit a status of “active” by default, although other life-cycle statussuch as “inactive”, “deleted”, “suspended”, etc. may be assigned asnecessary.

The interactive media management server 107, at a next block 207,manages a start date and an end date for each of a plurality ofinteractive media that requires such settings. Then, at a next block209, it provides a target user profile for each of a plurality ofinteractive media. Such target user profile may be submitted along withan associated interactive media by an advertisement company thatprovides ads, a content provider providing content, a service provideroffering an interactive media as part of a service delivery, etc.

In one embodiment, while managing newly received interactive media, at anext block 211, the interactive media management server 107 creates, inan automated fashion, a database (if necessary) and associated tables(as needed) for collecting responses to each of a plurality ofinteractive media, as necessary. For example, it might create one newtable for each new interactive media received. Or it might use the sametable for responses received for all interactive media that originatefrom one source, such as a specific content provider, or a specificcompany.

At a next block 213, the an interactive media management server 107securely transmits, employing a transmitting module, the sample portionof the interactive media initially to the electronic device such as amobile device 111, tablet, or a PC/laptop. Then, at a next block 215, itreceives a request for the rest of the interactive media from theelectronic device subsequently. Then, at a next block 217, it customizesthe rest of the interactive media based at least on the localeassociated with the electronic device. At a next block 219, it alsocommunicates the rest of the interactive media to the electronic device.In one embodiment, customizing is also based on an interest shown by auser of the electronic device in various categories of interactive mediaor based on the participation of the user in one or more socialnetworks.

Then, at a next block 221, the interactive media management server 107receives user responses to interactive media reviewed by/used by users(from mobile devices, tablets, PCs/laptops, etc.). It also providesreferences to uploaded audio, photo and video data provided by users aspart of their user inputs to specific ones of the plurality ofinteractive media, wherein such references are used for communication ofcollected responses to individual ones of the plurality of interactivemedia to external servers (such as a content provider system or serviceprovider system, etc.).

Then, at a next block 223, the interactive media management server 107provides, in an automated fashion, a report created daily, weekly, andmonthly, to one or more registered recipients. Alternatively, registeredusers can create such reports using the website associated. Such reportstypically comprise usage, ranking, rating and other related information,for each of the plurality of interactive media (that the user isinterested in). In addition, customized reports are supported for eachservice provider/content provider/company/client who may have subscribedto a reporting service.

Finally, at an end block 231, it terminates processing of the operation.

In one embodiment, the interactive media management server 107 supportsverifying, from subscription records, whether the user has asubscription to a service that provides access to a requested one of aplurality of interactive media, in the block 213. It provides therequested one of the plurality of interactive media after verifying thatthe user has an active subscription to access the requested one of theplurality of interactive media.

In one embodiment, in the block 221, the interactive media managementserver 107 receives, from the user, in response to the interactivemedia, a user input wherein the user input comprises at least one ormore photos, one or more recorded audio, or one or more video clips. Itthen makes the received one or more photos, one or more recorded audio,or one or more video clips available for review and processing by atleast one authorized manager via a website page associated with theinteractive media management server 107. It also provides accessselectively to the at least one or more photos, one or more recordedaudio, or one or more video clips from an external server for processingand storage. Thus, portions of user responses can be selectivelyretrieved and stored in external storages, and included in reportsgenerated and shared with service providers, content providers, creatorsand owners of interactive media, etc.

FIG. 3 is a perspective block diagram of a mobile device 305 thatcomprises a mobile client 307 that is capable of displaying, and lettinga user interact with, an interactive media. The mobile client 307 in themobile device 305 interacts with the interactive media management server311 and presents interactive media under the management of theinteractive media management server 311. The mobile client 307 comprisesa user interface manager 315 that is configured to receive user inputsprovided by a user as the mobile client 307 displays an interactivemedia, wherein the user inputs is subsequently associated with theinteractive media currently being displayed. It also comprises aninteractive media listing module 317 that also displays ratings andrankings to aid selection of the interactive media.

The mobile device 305 comprises a display circuitry 337, an audio/videoplayback & recording circuitry 339, a processor 343, a memory 345, astorage 347, at least one wireless communication means 341, etc. inaddition to the mobile client 307.

The mobile client 307 also comprises a storage manager 321 capable ofreceiving, storing and playing the interactive media as it is received,and a categorization module 323 that identifies a category for theinteractive media and a category of the user inputs provided by a user.It also comprises a retrieval module 327 that retrieves the interactivemedia and also comprises a search interface for the searching and theretrieval of the interactive media, and a reporting module 329 thatcommunicates to the interactive media management server the user inputsprovided by the user along with an identified category of the userinputs and metadata associated with the user inputs.

The mobile client 307 receives and selectively displays a sample portionof at least one of the plurality of interactive media, and, if requestedby the user, subsequently retrieves the rest of the at least one of theplurality of interactive media. The user inputs provided by a user afterreviewing a typical interactive media (customized optionally to a userby a server 311) comprises user selections from drop-down listsprovided, radio button selections, recorded audio provided by useremploying a microphone available in the mobile device, a photo taken bythe user using a camera available in the mobile device, a video cliptaken by the user, and optional text data inputs provided by the user inresponse to text input solicitations.

The mobile client 307 also comprises an upload module 331 that uploadsthe recorded audio, a photo, and a video clip taken by the user to theinteractive media management server 311. The upload module 331 retrievesreferences to such uploaded data. The mobile client 307 incorporates thereferences to uploaded data into a response message that also comprisesuser selections for drop-down lists, text inputs, user selections to theradio button selections. The mobile client 307 sends the response packetto the interactive media management server 311 for processing.

The terms “circuit” and “circuitry” as used herein may refer to anindependent circuit or to a portion of a multifunctional circuit thatperforms multiple underlying functions. For example, depending on theembodiment, processing circuitry may be implemented as a single chipprocessor or as a plurality of processing chips. Circuits and circuitrymay comprise general or specific purpose hardware, or may comprise suchhardware and associated software such as firmware or object code.

As one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, the terms “operablycoupled” and “communicatively coupled,” as may be used herein, includedirect coupling and indirect coupling via another component, element,circuit, or module where, for indirect coupling, the interveningcomponent, element, circuit, or module does not modify the informationof a signal but may adjust its current level, voltage level, and/orpower level. As one of ordinary skill in the art will also appreciate,inferred coupling (i.e., where one element is coupled to another elementby inference) includes direct and indirect coupling between two elementsin the same manner as “operably coupled” and “communicatively coupled.”

The present invention has also been described above with the aid ofmethod steps illustrating the performance of specified functions andrelationships thereof. The boundaries and sequence of these functionalbuilding blocks and method steps have been arbitrarily defined hereinfor convenience of description. Alternate boundaries and sequences canbe defined so long as the specified functions and relationships areappropriately performed. Any such alternate boundaries or sequences arethus within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention.

The present invention has been described above with the aid offunctional building blocks illustrating the performance of certainsignificant functions. The boundaries of these functional buildingblocks have been arbitrarily defined for convenience of description.Alternate boundaries could be defined as long as the certain significantfunctions are appropriately performed. Similarly, flow diagram blocksmay also have been arbitrarily defined herein to illustrate certainsignificant functionality. To the extent used, the flow diagram blockboundaries and sequence could have been defined otherwise and stillperform the certain significant functionality. Such alternatedefinitions of both functional building blocks and flow diagram blocksand sequences are thus within the scope and spirit of the claimedinvention.

One of average skill in the art will also recognize that the functionalbuilding blocks, and other illustrative blocks, modules and componentsherein, can be implemented as illustrated or by discrete components,application specific integrated circuits, processors executingappropriate software and the like or any combination thereof.

Moreover, although described in detail for purposes of clarity andunderstanding by way of the aforementioned embodiments, the presentinvention is not limited to such embodiments. It will be obvious to oneof average skill in the art that various changes and modifications maybe practiced within the spirit and scope of the invention, as limitedonly by the scope of the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: sending, to a clientdevice associated with a user, an electronic survey comprising a firstsurvey question and a second survey question; receiving, from the clientdevice, a first response from the user to the first survey question anda second response from the user to the second survey question;identifying a first response type of survey response types for the firstresponse according to a first set of metadata of the first response bycategorizing the first response as one of a free-form survey responsetype, a drop-down selection survey response type, a multiple-choicesurvey response type, a file-upload survey response type, or aradio-button survey response type; identifying a second response type ofsurvey response types for the second response according to a second setof metadata of the second response by categorizing the second responseas one of the free-form survey response type, the drop-down selectionsurvey response type, the multiple-choice survey response type, thefile-upload survey response type, or the radio-button survey responsetype, wherein the second response type differs from the first responsetype; generating, by at least one processor, a report comprising thefirst response categorized according to the first response type ofsurvey response types and the second response categorized according tothe second response type of survey response types; identifying that afirst report recipient and a second report recipient subscribe to areporting service; providing the report to a first client deviceassociated with the first report recipient based on the first reportrecipient subscribing to the reporting service; and providing the reportto a second client device associated with the second report recipientbased on the second report recipient subscribing to the reportingservice.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of metadata ofthe first response indicates that the first response comprises a filetype including at least one of a digital photo, digital audio, ordigital video.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the reportcomprises: selectively identifying a portion of the first response; andproviding, within the report, the portion of the first response.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the first response is received during a setduration specified within the reporting service.
 5. The method of claim4, further comprising identifying that the first set of metadata of thefirst response indicates that the first response comprises media contentprovided by the user.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein generating thereport comprises attaching the media content provided by the user to thereport.
 7. The method of claim 5, further comprising storing the mediacontent provided by the user on an external data storage server.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, wherein generating the report comprises creating areference to the external data storage server that allows the firstreport recipient and the second report recipient to access the externaldata storage server to retrieve the media content provided by the user.9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a firstsubscription request from the first report recipient indicatingcustomization information for reports to be provided to the first reportrecipient; and receiving a second subscription request from the secondreport recipient indicating customization information for reports to beprovided to the second report recipient.
 10. A system, comprising: atleast one processor; and at least one non-transitory computer readablestorage medium storing instructions thereon that, when executed by theat least one processor, cause the system to: send, to a client deviceassociated with a user, an electronic survey comprising a first surveyquestion and a second survey question; receive, from the client device,a first response from the user to the first survey question and a secondresponse from the user to the second survey question; identify a firstresponse type of survey response types for the first response accordingto a first set of metadata of the first response by categorizing thefirst response as one of a free-form survey response type, a drop-downselection survey response type, a multiple-choice survey response type,a file-upload survey response type, or a radio-button survey responsetype; identify a second response type of survey response types for thesecond response according to a second set of metadata of the secondresponse by categorizing the second response as one of the free-formsurvey response type, the drop-down selection survey response type, themultiple-choice survey response type, the file-upload survey responsetype, or the radio-button survey response type, wherein the secondresponse type differs from the first response type; generate a reportcomprising the first response categorized according to the firstresponse type of survey response types and the second responsecategorized according to the second response type of survey responsetypes; identify that a first report recipient and a second reportrecipient subscribe to a reporting service; provide the report to afirst client device associated with the first report recipient based onthe first report recipient subscribing to the reporting service; andprovide the report to a second client device associated with the secondreport recipient based on the second report recipient subscribing to thereporting service.
 11. The system of claim 10, further comprisinginstructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, causethe system to receive a first subscription request from the first reportrecipient indicating customization information for reports to beprovided to the first report recipient.
 12. The system of claim 11,further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least oneprocessor, cause the system to receive a second subscription requestfrom the second report recipient indicating customization informationfor reports to be provided to the second report recipient.
 13. Thesystem of claim 12, wherein the customization information for reports tobe provided to the first report recipient is different than thecustomization information for reports to be provided the second reportrecipient.
 14. The system of claim 12, further comprising instructionsthat, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:receive a second response from the user to the second survey question;provide a report for the second response to the first report recipientbased on the customization information received in the firstsubscription request; and determine not to provide the report for thesecond response to the second report recipient based on thecustomization information received in the second subscription request.15. The system of claim 12, further comprising instruction that, whenexecuted by the at least one processor, cause the system to determinethat the first set of metadata of the first response indicates that thefirst response comprises a file type including at least one of a digitalphoto, digital audio, or digital video.
 16. A non-transitory computerreadable storage media storing instructions thereon that, when executedby a processor, cause a computer system to: send, to a client deviceassociated with a user, an electronic survey comprising a first surveyquestion and a second survey question; receive, from the client device,a first response from the user to the first survey question and a secondresponse from the user to the second survey question; identify a firstresponse type of survey response types for the first response accordingto a first set of metadata of the first response by categorizing thefirst response as one of a free-form survey response type, a drop-downselection survey response type, a multiple-choice survey response type,a file-upload survey response type, or a radio-button survey responsetype; identify a second response type of survey response types for thesecond response according to a second set of metadata of the secondresponse by categorizing the second response as one of the free-formsurvey response type, the drop-down selection survey response type, themultiple-choice survey response type, the file-upload survey responsetype, or the radio-button survey response type, wherein the secondresponse type differs from the first response type; generate a reportcomprising the first response categorized according to the firstresponse type of survey response types and the second responsecategorized according to the second response type of survey responsetypes; identify that a first report recipient and a second reportrecipient subscribe to a reporting service; provide the report to afirst client device associated with the first report recipient based onthe first report recipient subscribing to the reporting service; andprovide the report to a second client device associated with the secondreport recipient based on the second report recipient subscribing to thereporting service.
 17. The non-transitory computer readable storagemedia of claim 16, further comprising instructions that, when executedby the processor, cause the computer system to create a responsedatabase for collecting responses from a plurality of users.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 17, wherein theresponse database comprises a table corresponding to each surveyquestion of the electronic survey.
 19. The non-transitory computerreadable storage media of claim 17, wherein the response databasecomprises a table corresponding to the electronic survey, the tablecollecting and maintaining responses originating from the electronicsurvey.
 20. The non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim17, wherein generating the report comprises accessing the responsedatabase to obtain one or more responses to include in the report.